Scott-Moncrieff, Scotland’s longest established accountancy firm, is to join forces with Campbell Dallas to become part of the fast-growing CogitalGroup.

The deal, which is for an undisclosed sum, will see all 16 Scott-Moncrieff partners and 220 staff transfer, creating one of Scotland’s largest accountancy and business services firms. The joint business will employ 45 Partners and over 500 staff in Scotland, operate from 11 offices from Inverness to Ayr, and have a combined fee income approaching £40m per annum. The deal will take effect from 3rd May 2019.

The deal with Scott-Moncrieff follows on from Campbell Dallas joining Baldwins and the CogitalGroup in October 2017. At that point, plans were announced to drive growth in Scotland through a combination of acquisitions and organic expansion.

Stewart MacDonald, Managing Partner at Scott-Moncrieff, said: “Joining Campbell Dallas and the CogitalGroup presents an exciting opportunity for our clients and our people. CogitalGroup leads the industry in using technology to deliver cutting edge services to clients, with the ability to adapt quickly to changing client needs. Together, Scott-Moncrieff and Campbell Dallas will be able to provide our clients access to a wider range of additional services and to more efficient ways of working.”

Chris Horne, Managing Partner of Campbell Dallas, added that the merger is a pivotal deal for the firm and for Scotland’s accountancy sector. He said: “By joining with Scott-Moncrieff the whole UK business gets access to one of the country’s strongest public and third sector firms as well as expanding our geographical footprint in the North and East of Scotland. The combined business will have the largest VAT team in Scotland and provides us access to specialist services in areas such as IT strategy and cyber security. All services we see our clients needing more of in this time of rapid change. We will also be providing our staff with more opportunity for rewarding and varied careers whilst we remain focused on being the leading adviser to entrepreneurial businesses and providing the best technology driven client services. The deal with Scott-Moncrieff adds significantly to our credentials and adds their expertise in the public sector and charities to the portfolio. We welcome our new colleagues and look forward to working together as we continue to build a progressive and disruptive business in the fast-changing accountancy market.”

Shaun Knight, Board Director at Baldwins, added: “This exciting news underlines our commitment to further growth in Scotland and will give businesses the ability to access our specialist services including banking and finance, insolvency and forensic accounting. We are looking forward to welcoming our new colleagues who share a similar ethos to our own and this is a fantastic opportunity to strengthen our position in the country.”